A 1987 poll by a prominent Washington consulting firm for 15th Congressional District challenger Ed Reibman indicated that U.S. Rep. Don Ritter has been popular with voters only because they have not been aware of his voting record and policy positions, and that Reibman's positions are more in step with the district.

In addition, it said that Reibman was the most popular Democrat to run against Ritter. Local Democrats whose names were tested in the poll included Richard J. Orloski, one of two other Democrats on the primary ballot for the nomination and the primary challenger to Reibman.

Reibman's campaign released a poll summary, which was distributed earlier this year to key campaign supporters and Lehigh Valley elected officials endorsing him. Questions about the poll arose after the candidate last week informally discussed part of it with a reporter.

The summary for the most part did not provide specific figures in the poll, nor the specific questions. Reibman and Michael Solomon, a campaign adviser, refused to disclose the specifics. Solomon said information from the poll "clearly" would be used in forming Reibman's campaign strategy.

However, the summary did outline some broad conclusions that strongly favored Reibman's candidacy.

The summary was dated Nov. 13 and was part of a poll done by Hickman- Maslin Research, a Washington-based political consulting firm. Hickman- Maslin has done consulting work for gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns around the country, including the campaigns of Kentucky Gov. Martha Layne Collins and U.S. Sens. Alan Cranston of California and Timothy Wirth of Colorado.

The telephone survey of 500 "registered and likely voters" was conducted in the district between Oct. 8-13.

It said the district is "quite Democratic, both in registration and party identification," and added that Ritter's "current standing (is) based almost entirely on the voters' lack of familiarity with his voting record and policy positions."

On a "whole host of issues," the summary said, the pollsters asked respondents to choose between two opposing positions. The poll revealed that "On many of these issues voters incorrectly assume that Ritter's positions are close to their own."

Further, it said the same voters would not support Ritter when they learned of the disparity.

The fact that voters assume their positions are similar to Ritter's "only makes matters worse for him and better for (Reibman): voters almost always react more violently when they think they have been misled," the summary said.

"Your views are substantially more in step with the district's than Don Ritter's," it said. "The positions you take on such vital issues as spending priorities bring you closer to the voters than Don Ritter."

According to Solomon, the poll served two purposes by providing ammunition for the campaign and also confirming that Reibman "is on the right track" on the issues.

A spokesman for Ritter said it was difficult to speak specifically without knowing the issues on which the respondents were questioned. However, the spokesman, George Sacarakis, said it is "an erroneous assumption" that the district's voters are not intelligent enough to be aware of Ritter's record and positions.

In fact, he said, the voters are familiar with his record, which is why Ritter has been re-elected four times, he said.

Regarding the political mood in the Lehigh Valley, the summary noted that 42 percent said the country is going in the wrong direction while 39 percent said it was on the right track. However, 58 percent said Pennsylvania was going in the right direction, against only 29 percent who said it wasn't.

Reibman and Solomon said Ritter could not take advantage of the positive feelings about the state because he is elected to a federal post. The majority's positive view of Pennsylvania, Solomon said, is a reflection of the feelings about the job local elected Democratic state officials are doing.

On the question of Reibman's candidacy as compared to other Democrats' candidacies, the poll said Reibman was the "most popular of all the Democratic candidates tested by a significant margin."

Solomon would not disclose who those other Democrats were, but said Orloski was among them.

"The poll that counts now is the poll on April 26," Orloski said yesterday.

He said he talked last fall with Reibman, who, he said, told him that "the poll showed he could not beat Ritter." Orloski also said Reibman told him he was considering not running for Congress at that point. "Then, shortly thereafter, I got his announcement," Orloski said.

In mid-February, Orloski said he did "some in-house, unscientific polling" that showed that the "overwhelming majority of Democrats that we contacted were undecided."

Reibman, he added, should release all of the poll data, instead of just the summary.